“There may be some small differences, but for the most part a Web browser is a Web browser is a Web browser,” Scott Gilbertson writes for Ars Technica. “This is especially true when there’s no Web browser. The rise of the embedded browser in mobile apps has very nearly eliminated the need for a dedicated one if you spend most of your time in mobile applications. But the disappearance of the browser is not a bad thing. The point after all is not the browser—it’s the Web it accesses.”
“Google’s infamous man-on-the-street interviews demonstrated that many people have no idea what a Web browser is or even that they’re using one, but it did not demonstrate that they don’t know how to use a browser,” Gilbertson writes. ” Most people have no idea how a car works either, but they still manage to drive one.”
“Judging by the user interface design and disappearing features, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari have very little regard for the intelligence of their users. If you work with the Web the way these options want you to, consider yourself lucky,” Gilbertson writes. “On the other hand, if you find yourself installing a dozen or more extensions just to bend the browser to your will, you might want to check out the newcomer to the browser scene — Vivaldi. This powerful, customizable Web browser doesn’t try to dictate how you browse the Web… and it just hit version 1.0.”
Much more in the full review here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s fast!
Download Vivaldi 1.1.453.47 for your Mac(s) and give it a try: https://vivaldi.com/
Oh goody, an new HTML 5 browser I can replace Opera for that quaternary client’s needs.
The main thing I’ve noticed about Vivaldi’s speed is that it shows the webpage before it’s fully loaded. Safari on the other hand, waits for the page to load before showing it. Personally, I prefer Vivaldi’s approach.
The call it “A Browser for Our Friends”. I don’t even know those people.
I’ve noticed that it works very well. It’s fast, accurate, no problems as of yet. In contrast, I’m constantly experience little glitches in Safari. Nothing earth shattering but the annoyances add up.
Vivaldi, the browser that can’t be used by everyone. I just tried it with voiceover. The web content, what a browser is all about really, cannot be used. I’ll stick with Safari, thanks.
I’ve heard that trying to uninstall this thing on Windows is a nightmare. Just an FYI.
Vivaldi was a yawner during its ‘beta’. But I’ll give it a second look.
I find it ironic that when you go to the Vivaldi website, the top of the page has Flash content requiring…. you guessed it, a plug in.
Also, noted on the webpage:
“We use JavaScript and React to create the user interface ”
Great, more Java…. ugh!
The similarity of Javascript to Java is cosmetic.. You would think it reasonable that Javascript derives from Java but it simply is not true.